After Living in Ross Chastains Shadow for Two Years, Daniel Suarez FindsHimself in a Sticky Situ

Publish date: 2024-05-02

Heading into the 2023 season, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez had one goal in mind for their Trackhouse Racing campaigns – to qualify for the playoffs. But fast forward to the qualification, and only the #1 car made it through. This left Daniel Suarez with a completely different goal than his teammate. While Chastain was setting his eyes on the Championship Race, Suarez could only hope to win individual races. But it isn’t just Chastain that is overshadowing Suarez’s efforts as of late.

Trackhouse Racing has made strides unlike any other team to expand its presence at the top level of the sport. Since they began with Daniel Suarez at the center, things have rapidly shifted toward bringing in worldwide talents such as Kimi Raikkonen and Shane van Gisbergen. With the number of takers for the two Trackhouse seats increasing by the minute, Suarez has a lot of catching up to do if he wants to sit in his seat as comfortably as Chastain is in the #1.

Can Daniel Suarez match Ross Chastain’s performances?

A few months ago, Suarez reflected on his dynamic with Chastain as his campaign unfolded for the worst, “If he’s coming behind me and he’s faster, I would let him go. But if we’re similar speed, we’re gonna race.” However, Suarez now finds himself questioning whether he will be able to race at all for Trackhouse Racing. Gone are the times when Suarez was bigger than the team itself, prompting them to plan their future around the Mexican-American.

But as another seat opened up and Chastain started performing beyond Justin Marks’ wildest dreams, Suarez failed to keep up with the Melon. Adding to his misery, Shane Van Gisbergen blew away every NASCAR fan during his debut at the Chicago road course event. His win at NASCAR’s 75th anniversary was just icing on the cake. Trackhouse is also teaming up with Kaulig Racing to provide Van Gisbergen the opportunity of a lifetime, which could prove to be costly for Daniel Suarez.

According to sources, Suarez has a contract with Trackhouse for another year, but that could all go up in flames sooner rather than later. The problem arises when we consider that the team has four contractual drivers with only two seats at their disposal. While the team could work out a third car, it seems more likely that the pressure is on Suarez to perform instead. Their collaboration with Spire Motorsports and Zane Smith also spells nothing but trouble for the Mexican.

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However, if anyone could turn things around from dire straits to moments of glory, it’s Daniel Suarez. Only recently, he shared how his perseverance comes from his father’s life lessons during their bonding sessions working on cars. On the other hand, the Trackhouse president, Ty Norris, also shares the opinion that the #99 and Suarez have failed to live up to expectations this season.

Trackhouse Racing President piles the pressure on Suarez and the #99 garage

Although Daniel Suarez believes 2023 was nothing but a minor setback in the bigger picture, that notion doesn’t stand well with the President of Trackhouse Racing. Ty Norris spoke on SiriusXM’s NASCAR Radio about the #99 team’s mediocre result. He shared, “We’re addressing a handful of things around that team, and the raw speed was there. The execution this past year was way off. And that execution could have happened in adjustments, it could have happened on a pit stop, it could have happened on a choice on a restart. A lot of things. The execution this year on the 99 was unacceptable, quite honestly,”

Norris believes the team first needs to address their strategy and execution blunders if they hope to pick up the pace.  He also added, “We have to make sure we’re addressing each one of those areas to improve, and we’re doing so as a team, collaborating on all of those decisions.” 2022 was a much better year for the #99 team and Trackhouse’s president expects nothing less in 2024.

It’s safe to say that Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen’s shenanigans have dialed up the pressure on Daniel Suarez to perform. Will Suarez emerge victorious amidst Trackhouse’s increasing list of drivers?

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